Wolkenberg



Aug. 11, 195 9 CAN OPENER Filed Jan. 9, 1956 J. WOLKENBERG ATTORNEY nited States Patent CAN OPENER Jaseph Wolkenberg, New York, NY.

Application January 9, 1956, Serial No. 558,045

1 Claim. (Cl. 220-48) This invention relates to a can opener and more particularly to a device which is adapted to be permanently affixed to the top of a can and which may be readily operated to open the can.

Heretofore, numerous structures have been utilized to open cans and the like. Such devices generally take the form of a separable tool which is attached to the can in some fashion and operated to either punch a hole in the can or completely remove the lid. The necessary equipment frequently becomes mislaid and under such circumstances it is exceedingly difficult to provide an aperture in the can lid.

The present invention provides a device which is permanently affixed to the can lid and which may be readily operated by the consumer. The device comprises a pyramid-shaped structure which is soldered over a weakened portion of the can lid. When the can is to be opened, the pyramid-shaped section is pressed downwardly to displace the weakened lid section and the material within the can flows out through openings in the sides of the device. The present invention has the fur ther advantage that no sharp edges are at any time exposed so that there is little danger that the consumer will be injured in opening the can.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a can opener which is permanently attached to a can and which may be readily operated.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a polygonal shaped structure having openings in the sides thereof which is secured to a can lid and which may be depressed to provide an opening in the can.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated upon consideration of the following detailed specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the can opener attached to a can;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view taken from a different angle showing the opener attached to the can;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the can showing the weakened area; and

Fig. 4 is an elevational view partly in section showing the opener in two positions.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing wherein like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, there is shown at 1 a can having a lid 2 aflixed 2,899,100 Patented Aug. 11, 1959 "ice thereto in the usual way. Lid 2 is provided with score lines as shown at 3 in Fig. 3 which form a triangular area.

Soldered to this triangular portion of the lid 2 is a triangular shaped structure 4. This structure comprises triangular side elements 5 and 6 which may, if desired, be formed from a single sheet of metal and bent to the shape shown. Sides 5 and 6 are provided with triangular cutout areas. Secured adjacent one end of the members 5 and 6 is a member 7 having a generally elliptical upper peripheral surface as shown. Member 7 is provided with a triangular cutout area as shown at 8 in Fig. 2.

The presently-disclosed invention is used in the following manner. Sides 5, 6 and 7 are suitably secured together as, for example, by means of solder and are permanently afiixed to the lid 2 within the area defined by score lines 3. In use the member 7 which is shaped to conform to the thumb is pressed downwardly so that the can lid is opened along the score lines 3 and the polygonal shaped opener assumes the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. It can readily seen that when the can is inverted the material within the can will flow out through the openings in the sides of the opener.

It is obvious that the presently disclosed opener need not be permanently afiixed to the can but could, if desired, be separate from the can and provided with projections on the sides 5 and 6 to extend into slots in the can lid 2 when it is desired that the opener be positioned as shown in Fig. 1. While the opener as shown is provided with three sides, it is clear that any desired number of sides could be provided.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In a device of the class described for providing an opening in a can having a cylindrical side wall and end walls wherein one end wall of the can has a triangular shaped weakened area, an opener secured over said weakened area, said opener comprising three triangular walls secured together to form a pyramidal shaped structure, the weakened area of the end wall of the can forming the base of the pyramid, each of said walls having an opening therein, the wall adjacent the cylindrical side wall of the can having portions extending laterally outwardly of the planes of the other two walls of the opener, said wall forming a thumb engaging portion and adapted to be depressed to force the other two walls into the can, the thumb engaging wall being disposed against the end of the can when the can is opened, the contents of the can adapted to flow through the openings in the walls of the opener.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,060,258 Javins Apr. 29, 1913 2,310,210 Brynjolfsson Feb. 9, 1943 2,442,126 Halstead May 26, 1948 2,590,553 Lesser et a1. Mar. 25, 1952 

